Cruz destroys Mishiro in IBF eliminator, takes crack at Keyshawn

Andy Cruz marched through Hironori Mishiro, and took a verbal shot at his old rival, Keyshawn Davis.

Andy Cruz dominated Hironori Mishiro in an IBF lightweight eliminator tonight at the Madison Square Garden Theater in New York, earning a shot at the title held currently by Raymond Muratalla.

Muratalla was recently elevated from interim to full titlist status in the wake of Vasiliy Lomachenko’s retirement, and his first defense could be a tough one against the Cuban amateur great, who looked nastier than ever as a pro tonight.

Mishiro (17-2-1, 6 KO) was tough but just got taken apart in this fight, deeply out his depth with Cruz (6-0, 3 KO), who was landing at will by the third round. Mishiro went down twice in the third, and Cruz took his foot off the gas a bit in the fourth, only to finish Mishiro off in the fifth round when referee Eric Dali had very reasonably seen enough punishment in the mismatch.

“This is just another step on my journey to achieve my main objective, which is to become a world champion,” Cruz said through an interpreter. “I have to give (Mishiro) great respect, he was a warrior in there and I thank him, but tonight was my night. He was a really strong fighter and able to withstand a lot of shots in there.”

Cruz did confirm that he’s targeting the fight with IBF titleholder Raymond Murtalla next.

“I’ve always said I was born for these moments, I wanted to go into these fights and I’m completely ready for this,” Cruz said.

He also added a knock on his old amateur rival, Keyshawn Davis: “Keyshawn, learn from your father,” he said with a chuckle.

Top heavyweight prospect Teremoana Jr thrashed through Aleem Whitfield in the first round, just tearing through his overmatched opponent.

Teremoana (8-0, 8 KO) was added to the card on very short notice, and it’s not like the 35-year-old Whitfield (9-1, 6 KO) was meant to provide much resistance, but Teremoana remains someone to keep a close eye on as a potential new star for the heavyweight division. It’s also worth noting that Whitfield turned pro as a super middleweight in 2009, and just returned to the sport last November after a nearly 10-year layoff.

In the main card opener, super featherweight prospect Zaquin Moses went to 4-0 (3 KO) with a second round stoppage of Carl Rogers (3-3, 0 KO), who did his best to be awkward and find spots, but was simply outclassed by the 20-year-old from Newark, whose grandfather is longtime trainer Wali Moses, and whose cousin is Shakur Stevenson.

“I feel great. I got some rounds in. My grandfather wanted me to stop him earlier, but I wanted to get some rounds in,” Moses said.

“(My mindset) was to do what I do, just have fun. I knew this kid wasn’t on my level when they sent him to me, but I just wanted to have fun. I work hard and it showed right here. I saw he was done by his body language. I hit him with a body shot and he didn’t like it. I went to the head and hurt him, and that’s all she wrote.”